Category Archives: Missouri

Show me liability reform A recent push for liability reform in Missouri could show patients how a reduction in medical lawsuit abuse can improve access to care across the states. Building on Governor Greitens’ emphasis on the need for changes to the state’s liability system, a new bill would bring an efficient resolution to those with legitimate claims. The latest bill, introduced by State Senator Dan Hegeman, allows physicians to address claims promptly by redefining the statute of limitations to three years. “Missouri has not amended the five-year statute since 1939,” Hegeman told the Senate government reform committee. “While five years may have made sense in an age when transportation and communication were more challenging, there is no reason today for an injured person to need so much time to file the action.” The shorter statute of limitations gives physicians peace of mind that any claims of negligence are addressed quickly, and deserving patients benefit from a system that better separates meritless lawsuits from rightful claims for damages. To read more about Missouri’s efforts to further reform their liability system for patients and physicians, click here. Sweeping changes to liability system would bring benefits to Kentucky Initiating legislation that would…

In this edition of Tort Reform Roundup, we look at a pair of states considering some major tort reform initiatives. In Kentucky, a sweeping measure aimed at capping attorney fees on medical malpractice damages, has passed the State Senate Health & Welfare Committee and now awaits a vote in the Senate. Meanwhile, the state of Missouri is mulling over a proposal that would shrink the time for filing personal injury lawsuits. Kentucky The state currently has no cap on damages in any type of injury. State Senator Ralph Alvarado aims to change that with SB-20, a bill that seeks to impose contingency caps on attorney fees in medical malpractice cases. The limits in this provision would allow a lawyer to make $60,000 of contingency fees if their client wins $200,000 in damages, or $140,000 if their client wins $1 million in damages. Other provisions would exempt medical peer review discussions from discovery, require medical malpractice lawsuits to contain an affidavit of merit (a document stating that at least one doctor agrees the claim has merit), and allow healthcare workers to express condolences to patients or families without fear of having those words used against them in a lawsuit. Alvarado has…

Year-end report sheds light on “Judicial Hellholes” The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) end-of-year “Judicial Hellholes” report offers a public glimpse at the most unfriendly jurisdictions for those defending themselves against civil litigation, including medical liability lawsuits. At the top of the list this year was Florida, where once-strong medical liability reforms have been continuously rolled back at the expense of patients seeking affordable and accessible care. “This year, thanks to a state high court majority’s barely contained contempt for the policy-making authority of the legislative and executive branches of government, and a notoriously aggressive and sometimes lawless plaintiffs’ bar, Florida earns the ignominious #1 ranking among eight Judicial Hellholes…” said American Tort Reform Association president Tiger Joyce. Also high on the list was St. Louis, where “antiquated rules have made it a favorite of personal-injury lawyers shopping for big-money verdicts” resulting in $300 million in awards since 2015. However, recent changes in state government, including a governor in support of changes to the liability system, do hold promise for much-needed reform in the coming year. To read more about ATRA’s “Judicial Hellholes” executive summary and report on the where physicians and defendants fare the worst when it comes to…

WASHINGTON, D.C., December 5, 2017 – The American Tort Reform Foundation issued its 2017-2018 Judicial Hellholes® report today, naming courts in Florida, California, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois and Louisiana among the nation’s “most unfair” in their handling of civil litigation. “With both this annual report and a year-round website, our Judicial Hellholes program since 2002 has been documenting troubling developments in jurisdictions where civil court judges systematically apply laws and court procedures in an unfair and unbalanced manner, generally to the disadvantage of defendants,” began American Tort Reform Association president Tiger Joyce. “This year, thanks to a state high court majority’s barely contained contempt for the policy-making authority of the legislative and executive branches of government, and a notoriously aggressive and sometimes lawless plaintiffs’ bar, Florida earns the ignominious #1 ranking among eight Judicial Hellholes, even as authorities have begun to crack down on some of the lawsuit industry’s most obviously fraudulent rackets. “Ranked #2 is perennial hellhole California, where lawmakers, prosecutors and plaintiff-friendly judges inexorably expand civil liability at the expense of businesses, jobseekers and those desperately in need of affordable housing,” Joyce explained. “The good news is the U.S. Supreme Court in June reversed a…

No false alarm on medical liability issues Responding to a Washington Post article earlier this month that charged advocates of medical liability reform with unnecessarily sounding the alarms on the need for fixes, the HCLA submitted a letter to the editor outlining the burden of the current system and urging passage of proposed patient protection measures. Our nation’s medical liability system is costly and inefficient – with bright spots in states that have proactively addressed the problems. “States like California and Texas have been successful in compensating patients fairly, controlling costs, and increasing access,” the letter explains. “Thirteen years after passing reforms in Texas, 118 counties saw net gains in emergency room physicians – including 53 counties that previously had none.” The letter cites figures that show how replicating those efforts would have an exponential effect on our federal health care costs: “The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that $55 billion in federal health savings and $62 billion in deficit reductions could be achieved over 10 years, if the federal government passed reforms like those in California and Texas.” “Lawmakers, policy experts, and the public agree reform is needed. When 75% of claims are meritless, and 33% of the…

With labor and ethics reform making up the majority of the General Assembly’s first two weeks in session, a few other bills at the top of Republican leadership’s docket may not have grabbed as much attention. However, they could be just as impactful for the state’s business community. Last week, the Senate Government Reform Committee heard testimony on Sen. Ed Emery’s collateral source rule change bill, which would have parties in injury cases present the actual cost of medical care, instead of its value when calculating the damages owed by a defendant. Currently, in a worker’s compensation case, if an assembly line worker gets injured on the line because of a faulty mechanism, the company she works for could pay for her injuries using their medical insurance. But she could also sue the company for negligence and get more money based on the “value” of her injuries as determined by a judge. Under Emery’s proposed rule, the specific monetary amount granted for her injuries would be what she receives. “It allows businesses who are always subject to personal injury lawsuits, to more effectively quantify what their exposure is,” Emery says. “If a defendant is found liable, we know what the…

Limits on monetary damages in medical malpractice lawsuits have been reinstated in Missouri. Gov. Jay Nixon signed Senate Bill 239 into law Thursday at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital in Jefferson City. The state’s Supreme Court overturned the previous limits three years ago. Since 2005 they had been at $350,000. Commonly known as tort reform, the bill places caps of $400,000 on damages for personal injury and $700,000 for a catastrophic injury – death, paralysis or loss of vision for example – in a medical malpractice lawsuit. It also includes a clause to increase the limits by 1.7 percent each year. Without caps on damages, insurance companies can charge doctors a range of premiums to insure their practice. Nixon said the Supreme Court’s decision created a level of uncertainty. “This decision resulted in a new problem by creating a climate of financial uncertainty for health care providers,” he said. Noneconomic damages, as the bill defines them, include everything except the medical costs and lost wages as a result of the injury. Ravi Johar, an OBGYN at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis and president-elect of the Missouri State Medical Association, joined other doctors and the governor in Jefferson City on Thursday….

SB 239, which creates a statutory cause of action for damages against health care providers, has left the Senate and moves to the House for consideration. Bill supporters say the bill will reduce incentives for “frivolous lawsuits.” Senate leaders released a statement saying that the bill will help lower skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance rates and keep doctors in Missouri. Senate Leader Tom Dempsey, R-St. Charles, said the issue has been a Senate priority, and it will create a better work environment to attract more doctors to the state. “By reinstating caps on non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, we will reduce incentives for these frivolous lawsuits,” said Dempsey. “Overall, it means more accessible health care for all Missourians.” Ten years ago, the General Assembly attempted a reform of the state’s liability system through lowered jury award caps for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases, but the reform was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court in 2012 – removing the caps. “We are now starting to see some of the effects on medical malpractice insurance premiums since the Supreme Court decision as they continue to rise,” said bill sponsor Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla. “We need to support our medical…

Less than 4 months after the Florida Supreme Court struck down the state’s wrongful death non-economic damages cap, the fate of the state’s personal injury medical malpractice award limit may also be in jeopardy. The state’s highest court heard oral arguments in June regarding Myles et al. v. Weingrad, an injury malpractice case that focuses on whether Florida’s $500,000 medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap can be applied retroactively. However, after the court in March ruled that the state’s wrongful death cap was unconstitutional, the plaintiffs in Weingrad now argue the injury limit should be thrown out on constitutional grounds. The personal injury malpractice cap is indeed in danger of being overturned, said Jeff Scott, general counsel for the Florida Medical Association. The FMA is not directly involved in the case. “Given the track record of the (Florida) Supreme Court, one would have to conclude the likelihood of a favorable opinion is slim,” Mr. Scott said in an interview. The case stems from leg surgery performed on Kimberly Ann Miles by Aventura, Fla.–based surgeon Dr. Daniel Weingrad. Ms. Miles claimed the surgery to remove residual melanoma was unnecessary and resulted in ongoing pain. A jury awarded Ms. Miles and her husband…

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) — Missouri lawmakers plan to try again to limit how much money people can receive in medical malpractice lawsuits. Missouri House Speaker Tim Jones said the liability limits are a priority for the 2014 session. And Rep. Eric Burlison of Springfield already is promoting a bill. Republican lawmakers want to reinstate a $350,000 limit on noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering, which was struck down by the Missouri Supreme Court in July 2012. The court said the limit violated a common-law right to seek damages for medical malpractice that predated the adoption of a state constitution in 1820. The proposed legislation would abolish that common-law right and instead make medical liability lawsuits subject to state law. A similar bill stalled earlier this year in the Senate.